Mezipatra is coming of age with the motto “Be Your Own Champion.” Festival passes are on sale

The Mezipatra Queer Film Festival will take place in Prague from November 2 to November 9, and in Brno from November 10 to November 17.

The theme of this year's 18th edition is Be Your Own Champion.

The most eagerly awaited pictures include Norwegian Thelma, biographic Tom of Finland, and the German drama Paths (Ein Weg).

Prague, November 4, 2017 – The eighteenth edition of Mezipatra, a film festival centred around queer topics, takes place in Prague from November 2 to November 9. After that, it will move from the capital city to Brno. The program will continue there until November 17, followed by festival echoes in Olomouc, Hradec Králové and Český Krumlov.

Festival passes and venues

From Wednesday, October 4, to October 18, audiences in Prague have the possibility to buy reduced-price festival passes for CZK 540. In Brno, they will be sold for the same price from Friday, October 6, to the end of the festival. The pass allows to visit any seven screenings for the price of five tickets.

For the first time, the festival will invite the audience not only to Lucerna and Světozor cinemas in Prague, but also to Pilotů cinema. The program in Kino 35 at the French Institute will be expanded as well. Audiences in Brno can traditionally see films in Scala cinema and also in the newly-opened ArtBar Druhý Pád.

“Just like the protagonists of the films across all sections introduced at the festival, we have to face our problems on our own,” says Sandra Hezinová, the festival's program director, about this year's topic. “The importance lies in the inner strength and authenticity of each of us. We are interested in forms of self-expression, and symptomatically also in role-models, which the queer community often lacks.”

Films and accompanying program

One of the most eagerly awaited films in the program will be Norwegian Thelma. The mysterious thriller with supernatural elements was successful at international festivals, and Norway has even chosen it as its representative for the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film. Other attractions include the biography of the legendary queer artist known as Tom of Finland as well as Paths (Ein Weg), a debut by German director Chris Miera which premiered at Berlinale.

As tradition dictates, discussions with experts on burning issues which rattle the queer world will be prepared for visitors, this time in the newly-opened Patra café, which aims to serve as a LGBTQ+ community centre not only during the festival, but also throughout the year.

The program also includes an exclusive performance of Kjell Theøry in Venuše ve Švehlovce on Tuesday, November 7. The play by Chicago company Anatomical Theatres of Mixed Reality (ATOM-r) is based on texts written by the mathematical prodigy Alan Turing and has been successful worldwide.

The popular parties are coming back this year as well. As usual, the opening party will také place in the café of Lucerna cinema and will be leather-themed. The festival's main party, PG-18, will take place in the industrial Ankali club in Vršovice on Saturday, November 4.